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Household-Scale Indoor Growing
Growing Instructions The first step to indoor gardening is understanding the importance of planning ahead. By growing each plant to correlate with the season, timing becomes vital for providing the plants with enough sunlight when the weather is still cold. It is common for gardeners to purchase seeds in December to begin gardening indoors in a timely fashion. "Heirloom seeds are preferred to indoor gardeners because they preserve the old-world charm and are considered the elite seeds, rather than commercial seeds which are for easily shippable plants, but insignificant for home gardeners.”1 The most established heirloom seeds seen on the internet today are Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, in which their reputation is attributed to the money they save gardeners and the higher quantity that supports next season’s production. Suggested seed orders include plants that grow well in Midwest gardens, are relatively expensive to buy elsewhere, and also attractive unique plants that don’t threaten the limited space of the garden. “Things I have had experience growing last season include tomatoes, tomatillos, peppers, several types of cucumbers, summer squash, beets, various types of lettuce including kale, swish chard and arugula. It’s also important to save room for various spices.” 2 The next step for indoor gardening is to create a space for growing. Gardeners commonly take advantage of their basement or an open room that can be occupied for several months. A starter kit for growing seedlings is sufficient enough to hold 50 pods and are perfect for starting to grow seeds. By using a plastic cover, they create a greenhouse effect, which holds the moisture in the plant and consumes light. After filling with water, the seeds soak and absorb water, swelling 4-5 times the original size, holding a peatmoss type of material wrapped in a this gauze. Once they swell up, you can put 2-3 seeds in each seed pod and can transport them to a warm location for the germination process. In the case that the plant needs constant light to germinate, the seed can also be placed on the top of the soil for a couple of days, but still must poke down into the soil. Once the seeds germinate, or sprout, they are required to be under light. This is where spacious environments become vital in which several four foot/1 bulb units are used to keep constant light on the plants. As soon as the plants begin to grow, they are transported to four foot/4 bulb units and are kept there for about a month, or until they stick out of the gauze. This square shaped plants will look familiar, as these are the common plants bought in stores to be transported to pots. The plants are then prepared to be transported to new, fertilized soil, in which one can cut the gauze and re-fertilize every couple weeks. To maintain the growth of the plants, one must keep them moist and rotate them so that they remain under constant light for the same duration. The same sequence should be repeated, in which the plants should be watered, kept under light at least 18 hours a day (the T5 is low energy), and you will have to transport the plants one more time to a gallon-sized pot. Although losing plants can seem discouraging, there are more than enough for the garden and it is bound to happen in the planting process. Once the last day of frost subsides in your area, which can be easily determined online, you will then begin to transport the plants to an outdoor garden. The plants will require constant sun every day and transported inside to avoid frosting during the night. After two weeks of transporting the plants daily, one is able to put the plants in the ground and create an outdoor garden. If the frost reoccurs, it is recommended to cover the plants with plastic at night, but after two weeks of the “last frost,” it is probable there will be no more frost outdoors. These are instructions on how to develop an indoor garden during Midwest winters to create a full garden come spring, just in time for Mother’s Day presents! References 1 Interview with author and Michael O’Keeffe May 1, 2014. 2 Interview with author and Michael O’Keeffe May 1, 2014.